Headliner plastic welding

Abstract

Plastic welding may be used to attach various components for a vehicle headliner assembly. In an embodiment, the headliner assembly includes a polymer substrate material accepting a cover stock material on the substrate bottom side. The substrate material is fixtured. Polymer headliner component parts are fixtured relative to the substrate material and plastic welded to the substrate material.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly, the headliner assembly including a polymer substrate material accepting a cover stock material on a substrate bottom side, the method comprising: 
 fixturing the substrate material;    fixturing a plurality of polymer headliner component parts relative to the substrate material; and    plastic welding the plurality of headliner components to the substrate material.    
     
     
         2 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein plastic welding comprises vibration welding.  
     
     
         3 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein plastic welding comprises hot plate welding.  
     
     
         4 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein plastic welding comprises sonic welding.  
     
     
         5 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein plastic welding comprises radio frequency welding.  
     
     
         6 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein plastic welding comprises staking.  
     
     
         7 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein the plurality of headliner components comprises at least one garnish piece.  
     
     
         8 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein the plurality of headliner components comprises at least one retainer, each retainer supporting at least one of a set including visor, visor center support, grab handle, lamp, wiring harnesses, air duct, rear washer hose and drain tube.  
     
     
         9 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein the plurality of headliner components comprises at least one sheet metal attachment.  
     
     
         10 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly as in  claim 1  wherein the plurality of headliner components comprises at least one from a set including wiring harness, rear washer hose, drain tube, duct and head impact countermeasures.  
     
     
         11 . A vehicle headliner assembly comprising: 
 a polymer support substrate having a bottom surface facing into a vehicle body interior and a top surface opposing the bottom surface;    a cover stock adhered to the support substrate bottom surface; and    a plurality of polymer headliner components plastic welded to the support substrate top surface.    
     
     
         12 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly comprising: 
 forming a polymer substrate;    attaching a cover stock to a substrate bottom surface; and    plastic welding a wiring harness assembly directly to a substrate top surface.    
     
     
         13 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly comprising: 
 forming a polymer substrate;    attaching a cover stock to a substrate bottom surface; and    plastic welding at least one air duct directly to a substrate top surface.    
     
     
         14 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly comprising: 
 forming a polymer substrate;    attaching a cover stock to a substrate bottom surface; and    plastic welding at least one fluid tube directly to a substrate top surface.    
     
     
         15 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly comprising: 
 forming a polymer substrate;    attaching a cover stock to a substrate bottom surface; and    plastic welding at least one head impact countermeasure directly to a substrate top surface.    
     
     
         16 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly comprising: 
 forming a polymer substrate;    attaching a cover stock to a substrate bottom surface; and    plastic welding at least one sheet metal attachment to a substrate top surface.    
     
     
         17 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly comprising: 
 forming a polymer substrate;    attaching a cover stock to a substrate bottom surface; and    plastic welding at least one trim retainer to a substrate top surface.    
     
     
         18 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly comprising: 
 forming a substrate;    attaching a cover stock to a bottom surface of the substrate;    forming a plurality of headliner components, each headliner component including at least one stake extending from a component contact surface designed to contact the cover stock;    inserting each headliner component stake through a hole formed in the substrate such that the component contact surface contacts the cover stock, each stake extending through the substrate; and    staking each headliner component to the substrate by applying heat and pressure to each stake extending through the substrate.    
     
     
         19 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly, the headliner assembly including a thermoplastic layer, the method comprising plastic welding a plurality of headliner components by plastically deforming the thermoplastic layer.  
     
     
         20 . A method of making a vehicle headliner assembly, the headliner assembly including a headliner and at least one plastically weldable headliner components, the method comprising plastic welding each plastically weldable headliner component to the headliner.